


This One Left Them All Behind

by PuppyGuppy



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: First Kiss, I just felt waxing poetic about my boys, KH3 spoilers, M/M, nuthin' but fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-14
Updated: 2019-06-14
Packaged: 2020-05-07 15:40:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19212463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PuppyGuppy/pseuds/PuppyGuppy
Summary: “Hi, Riku.”There was more to be said. About Kairi, aboutthem.But there were also things that wereneversaid, and right now was the time to make up for that.





	This One Left Them All Behind

**Author's Note:**

> "Since the invention of the kiss there have been five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure. This one left them all behind." -The Princess Bride

Riku couldn't explain what had compelled him to suddenly stand up, finger squished between the pages of the book he'd been reading. It was kind of like a thought, but what he was thinking, he couldn't quite figure out. So, it could have been more like a feeling, but even then, it was much the same; what he was feeling, he had no idea. But it was _something._

  
Definitely something.

  
Something had told him to stand.

  
It wasn't until, after standing for a few moments, brows furrowed in confusion, Riku managed to put a name to it. _Instinct._ Yes, instinct is what had made him stand up. Not a thought, or a feeling, but a natural physical response to...

  
Nothing. He didn't feel anything other than fine, _normal_. And any previous thoughts had just been about the book he was reading, something along the lines of historical fiction, about a man and a lost city. So really, there was no logical reason for him to be standing there now, book forgotten in hand, eyes burning holes into the floor as if _it_ somehow held all the answers. Maybe it was just a tick? Had he gotten too restless? That could explain the movement, at least. And why his palms had started to sweat. And why his heart was beating at twice the rate it should be.

  
Yes, this was definitely _instinct_. Fight or Flight. But without the apparent danger.

  
Riku breathed out, slowly, then back in. Felt the way his chest expanded. Counted to ten.

  
Willed himself to return to his chair.

  
Riku thought he'd gotten over this. The urge, the need, the _itch_. He thought he'd finally learned to ignore the constant pull on him, on his heart; as if a giant piece of metal had lodged itself there, and someone was holding an industrial-strength magnet. Not someone, but _Sora_. It had been a year, for fucks' sake, _a whole year_. Since Sora had ventured forth to return Kairi home safely. And, even if he fought it for days, months- fought his own heart, his body, his _friends_ , eventually life moved on. He had to keep eating. He had to keep sleeping. He had to keep in contact. Because if he didn't keep at it, he felt like he'd shrivel away to nothingness. And then what would be the point of _that?_ He couldn't do that. Even if it killed him, he'd live for Sora. He'd do _anything_ for Sora.

  
Even if this was the hardest thing he'd had to do yet. He'd fought _Demon Tides_ with more ease than it took to take a shower.

  
Yet-

  
He didn't have nightmares anymore, and he actually managed to sleep. Food still didn't taste _good_ , but it didn't make him wretch anymore. He knew his friends cared, and though he was always slack at returning messages and calls, he did _try_. And it eventually seemed to be enough. But it was all just routine. Autopilot. Going through the motions of living, completely safe and...and utterly _bored_. Once the heartbreak had subsided (yeah, _right_ ), along with the fear of the unknown, a bone-deep melancholy had settled underneath his skin. It had taken time, but was easy enough to live with now, easy enough to live now in general, but it was still so _backwards_.

  
Riku had always been the one saving Sora. Constantly one step ahead, risking his life. It was thrilling, it was his _purpose_ , and nothing compared to the complete peace of mind and pride he felt whenever his best friend triumphed, _because of him_. (Over a year later, and he was still reeling over the moment Sora had saved _him_. He couldn't think about that too hard, though. It was a rabbit hole.) He had been without Sora before, quite a few times, but those had been so _different_. Those times, Riku could still see him. Keep an eye on him, know he was safe (even if asleep), or at least with... mildly competent companions. But now, Riku had no way of knowing where Sora was, or if he was _safe_. And he hated to admit it, but the longer it took, the harder it got to live by his own, _stupid_ words and: _believe in him_.

  
On the flip side, his best friend could be just fine; well on his way to rescuing Kairi.

  
He just didn't _know_.

  
But that's why he'd made his dull, secure life very busy. It's why he had been reading in the first place. When he wasn't eating, or sleeping, or showering, he was reading, or training, or hanging out with the few friends he managed to keep. Staying busy, _distracted_ , meant he didn't do something ridiculous. Something he knew everyone expected him to do, though wouldn't _say_. It also meant he didn't focus on the _longing_ , the _what-ifs_. See, Sora could make Riku really dumb. Could make him do dumb _things_.

  
Like let him go.

  
But, without Sora, Riku was smart. _Too_ smart. He knew, no matter how much he regretted those words, he had absolutely no way of going after him. Not really. Not without relinquishing what little hold he had on this new life, and giving in to that powerful pull to _somewhere. Someone._

  
Thus, he'd gritted his teeth, hid his tears, and bared it. He'd gotten good at it, had a year's worth of practice now

  
So why his body was telling him to _run_ , just stop everything and run _fast, hard, now_ , had him at a complete loss.

  
But his heart was racing, and he was sweating enough stray hairs were sticking to his neck; enough to dampen the pages of the book between his fingers, knuckles going white. He was on the verge of randomly, unexpectedly hyperventilating. But his mind was quiet and clear. Not sure what to think.

  
And then the room around him pulsed.

  
Not the room, but the entire world itself. Like one great, big, gentle ripple. The emanating sound was so low, it rattled his chest and shook his vision. It reverberated long enough Riku was reminded of strong Time spells, and he wondered, the first coherent thought to cross his mind, if someone had used _Slow_ or _Stop._

  
And then it shattered in silent, white light.

  
Riku clamped his eyes shut, but it did little good; it was so bright, he could still see the blank, fleshy color of the back of his eyelids. And from behind the arm he'd thrown over his face, more on reflex than for any legitimate protection. As quickly as it had appeared, blinding through the window, it receded, and he was left blinking. His eyes _stung_ , wide and unfocused, failing to follow the still present, but fading light outside. Like the meteors he'd seen as a kid, the ones he'd promised to shield his best friend from as a child, but _much_ too close.

  
Riku ran.

  
Book dropped and forgotten, Riku sprinted out his room, down the hall, out the house-

  
And then he bolted, steady and _hard_ , down the streets of Destiny Islands. He ignored the calls from others, both familiar and not. He ignored the cars, the honking, the crossing signs. He could hardly hear any of it, not over the pounding of his own heart and the blood rushing in his ears. He was running faster than he could ever remember running, feet hitting the path in solid, strong beats that propelled him further and further with each step. His chest was heaving, eyes struggling to stay open against the solar eclipse before him. Everything in its wake was scalding, not a single shadow visible behind its intensity. Not that any of that was important. And while his eyes burned, and his lungs, and his legs, his heart felt nothing but soft _warmth_.

  
It was exhilarating.

  
He was racing the sun; trying to outrun the speed of sound. An impossible feat, made even _more so_ by the fast-approaching beach. He was a good swimmer, but even at his best, he couldn't hope to make it. But then he felt that _pull_ , recognizable and painful but stronger than it had ever been, and he was useless to fight it, didn't _want_ to fight it. So he closed his eyes, still running full-force towards the ocean, panting, and gave in.

  
It physically _yanked_ him, eyes open wide; he was shouting, and he was _flying_.

  
Not flying, not really, but _gliding_. He was over the ocean, feet kicking up seafoam, arms thrown out to his sides. It reminded him of his time spent as a Dream Eater, when he could _Flow_. He was laughing. Loud and wild. No longer caught off-guard, he eased into the familiar action, the tug on his heart persistent, but weaker; a quick, squinty glance above him showed he'd caught up. He had to ignore the dots it left in his eyes as he looked back ahead of him, towards the Play Islands, and then-

  
Sand.

  
He wasn't sure what he'd expected, hadn't even really thought about it, therefore the cloud of sand he found himself spluttering in was quite the surprise. It would seem he'd hit the shore without so much as _slowing down_. It was in the air, clouding his vision, and it was also, _worse_ , in his nose and in his eyes and on his tongue. It was disorientating and gritty, and the landing had hurt, no matter how soft the sand was.

  
Because of it, he'd missed how the star he'd been stalking extinguished itself, plunging into the surf with a mighty splash. It sent a mini-tsunami towards the beach, sizeable waves crashing down and pushing the tide high enough to lap at the crater Riku had created. For a moment, as the sea and sand settled, everything was back to normal. It was just past noon, the world's sun high in the sky, the lazy shadows back in their place. It was as if nothing out of the ordinary had even happened.

  
But Riku knew better. He was sweaty, and gasping, and had just _run on water_ in a way he hadn't done in years. He was on the Play Islands, the very place he refused to step foot on shortly after Sora's leave. And he felt it, starting from beneath his ribs and wriggling out into his fingers and toes. A tingling, thrumming vibration in his veins, so, _so_ close to his metaphorical magnetic North. _His North Star_. His world. He hadn't seen where the light had gone, but if it was what he _knew_ it was, there was really only one place to look.

  
Riku cast his gaze outward, back to the ocean, where the waves were once again calm. He stared, searching the shimmering undulations for any sign, anything at all. He would have held his breath, was he not still so breathless from it all, crouching in his hole. He waited, and it felt like another entire year had passed in just a few seconds. He waited. He searched. He _prayed_.

Thunder clapped, ear-splitting and startling, at the same time Riku caught sight of soggy chocolate and swimming sapphires. All oxygen left him, out of shock, and out of _hope._ The sky darkened as he pushed himself up onto trembling legs. He stumbled, and fell, once, twice, before he got his footing in the sand, eyes never leaving the form in the water. He took a few steps forward, then stopped, toeing just at the edge of the tide. It had started raining, the occasional fat drop landing in his hair and scattering across his face. A storm brought on by the swift change in the tropical atmosphere. It turned everything a hazy gray, ocean and sky now indistinguishable from one another, and right in the middle of it was Sora.

  
_Sora._ Staring right back at him, unwavering and unreadable.

  
But then it changed, and those ocean eyes widened, and _glowed_ , and grew wet with more than just seawater. There was a grin, just as wide, struggling to properly form words while choking on salt.

  
" _Riku!_ "

  
It was his _name_.

  
Riku blinked, _hard_ , clearing raindrops and sand from his eyelashes. His heart throbbed, and he lifted a shaky, reaching hand out towards the water. He wanted to scream, sing, _shout_ \- at least call out his best friend's name as he'd done during so many sleepless nights. Instead, what came out was a stuttered, dry sob, barely above a whisper.

  
"S-Sora. _Sora_."

  
He watched, transfixed, as Sora started swimming. Riku was a good swimmer, but Sora was _great_ , and while he was quickly gaining on the shore, Riku couldn't seem to get his own body to work. He was still standing there, arm stretched out, and shaking. And then Sora was crawling onto the sand, stumbling just as much, clothes drenched and sagging off of him and hair matted to his face. He was still grinning ear to ear, even as the clouds opened up and the rain went from a drizzle to a downpour. He was still there, still grinning, then running at _him_.

  
Riku finally snapped, as if zapped by lightning, and broke into a clumsy sprint. It was difficult, in the sand made muddy by the storm, but it was really nothing compared to what he'd done in the past. It was nothing compared to Sora, who- in a collision of sopping garments and gritty limbs, met Riku in the middle with a resounding _smack_. It hurt, but it didn't matter, because Sora was here, back, _in his arms_ and alive.

  
And Riku wrapped his arms around the lithe, wet, _warm_ frame of his best friend, clung to him like he might disappear again (because _who knows?_ ), and then he was spinning, laughing and delirious on the beach. Sora, firmly squished to his chest, could only shout in sheer glee as his feet left the ground, weaving his arms around Riku in an embrace just as tight. It was dizzying, and not just the twirling. It was the sound of his laughter, the feel of his skin, his eyes, his smile, Sora saying his name- it was too much too fast, but Riku was a man starved, and he'd be _damned_ if he wasn't going to gorge himself on Sora.

  
That in mind, Riku gently slowed until they stopped, tears of _so much_ streaming down his face, mixing with the rain in a way that forced him to blink a lot. It annoyed him, childishly, because it obscured his sight of Sora, who was looking up at him as best he could despite his own battle with the rain. His grin had turned into a smile, all parts bright and joy. There was so much contained in this one single person that Riku had _missed._ He lowered his arms, but refused to let go; instead, he curled them around the back of Sora's thighs- and lifted. Sora went up easy and pliant, releasing airy giggles so full of surprise and _awe_ , until he rested a hand on either of his shoulders. Now he had to look _down_ at Riku. But the new position blocked the weather from both their faces, and it meant Riku could stare, full and unhindered, up into his best friend's face.

  
" _Sora._ "

  
He didn't know how much he could fit into one word, wasn't even sure he'd expressed even _half_ of what he wanted to; what his heart was bleeding out at that very moment. But the way Sora's eyes softened, how he tilted his head to better hold his gaze, he figured he'd gotten the message across. Tan hands smoothed up his shoulders, along his chest, and his breath hitched. They didn't stop, not until they were gingerly cupping Riku's jaw, thumbs on his cheeks with fingers in his hair. It was both incredibly strong and beautifully gentle. He'd never been held like that. His mouth went dry.

  
“Hi, Riku.”

  
There was more to be said. About Kairi, about _them_.

  
But there were also things that were _never_ said, and right now was the time to make up for that.

  
Riku stared a minute more, because he hadn't seen that face in a whole fucking _year_ , and wanted to see it still, even as he closed his eyes and closed the gap between them. It should have been gentle, and chaste, like any first kiss. But it was filled with too much time, too many promises, too many _feelings,_ too much _tongue,_ and those _I love you's_ that never got said. It was uncoordinated and needy and passionate, made even wetter and dirtier by the surrounding rain and sand. With Sora still in his arms and wrapped around his waist, clinging to his hair, Riku absently thought it was just like one of the books he'd been reading.

  
Like a fairy tale kiss.

 


End file.
